Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1887-06-24

''.llNt ulNlue, from the manner in which
q safe has been attacked and the charac-
yer OF the marks left upon it, something
bpnting to the identity of the operators
! mere is only limited number of first.
cia's bank burglars In existence at any
given time, and they and their methods
aIt all more or less familiar to the police.
Wheu a really first class job has been
uoht therefore, 1t is reasonable to sup
pos nat one or another of these men has
ha9 nand in 1t. The next step is to in
quirc which OF these persons were out of
jan AZ he time the robbery was commit
teu, ami Of these, which were in part of
the CO. try where it would be physically
posi-. FOR them TO have been concerned
IN the 'lrgary. This determined, it re-
mains I' carefully investigate the late &C
IONS an associates of the suspected per-
sons az t. work up whatever circum-
stantlaI violence may be available In
TINS way He inquiry is gradually narrow
Gu uoWu ana the grounds of suspicion
strenRth I'd, until ut length the stua-
tlou wv ls an arrest, even then the
work OF " ling the guilt of the prison
els Ell TO the .siaction of a jury has still to
ne uohe, ~ his often turns out to be the
most aruuu part of the affair.
In the p mt instance the investga-
tlon was co Heated by the fact that an
unusually ye number of frst-cass
thieves nap ed to be at liberty, thus en-
larglhg the "a of suspicion. The only
conclusion CHI it would be quite safe
~ COME TO- his stage of the proceed
inSs' was Una ONE first class man had
oeeh at WORK He. Aud vet there were
some lndicalion which seemed to point at
solnei i mug III nan an ordln lry profess
siohal ourPlal- Granting the truth of
Nelhle elorN lat he was compelled by
Ihre", Oh deaih give up the keys and
re edl ne comm tlOn, thus enabling the
Cnlt Ne7 I'D euJei vault uuimpeded, how
could they have tlculated so nicely the
Ulii,e necessary To- 1Deu the safes inside,
aliu lch s4le 70 ack How account
lor UhelI evident nilarity with all the
arlaugeulenJs ana Internal workings of
Ine ms uuOn lch knowledge was
not to be picked up r outsiders however
cuhnlhR ana persist ut. How, then, was
II optaIhed The spector shook his
Leau; IL certainly 10 ed very much as if
the thieves had enjoy the advantage of
some unprotessional stance, and where
coulu such assistance come from, If it
were 10 ne OF any pra 'ical use, unless
from some source insd- the bank itself >
1t was a grave questiu. not to be light
ly or prematurely ans cred. o. adj
NIT it, and no one CON .cted II the
bank, from the president D the O, -e-boy.
would be outside the lin S of suspicion
1t would add ten-iold to ne obstac les in
the way OF unrayelIing the mystery, since
it would be impossible to determine
whether the very person upon whom chief
reliance for inform alton wa placed, might
not be precisely Tia, person v 0 was guilty,
and whose whole "A. no would therefore, be
to mlslead inquiry But b. addition to
the officers and employees lf the bank
there were the depOsljlrs 20 n4 consider
ed. IL was possible for a d positor, es-
pecially for one of the better ass, to OBJ
tam good deal of intJmat.O. concern
ing the Interior structure and system of
the office. Such a depositor ght be a
friend of one of the clerk or e.pn of one
OF the directors, and on more u less con.
fidential relations with HIM. 4 Identity
such an lntriguer might conce ably be
practicable, bat it would be an eN ,ssively
difficult undertaking and was Xix ~ to be
an indefinitely prolonged one
On the other hand. the tact 1t the
safes within the vault We're BROKEN open
instead of being worked by their combi-
nations, tended to show that the inside
source of information iii such there were)
had failed at this point. It was not to be
forgotten, however, that the breaking
open might itself be a blind, intended to
dissipate the inside accomplish theory.
But, again, it would hardly be deemed
probable that SO much valuable ime
should have been sacrificed merely to at.
tain so probematical a result To he
thieving fraternity money is money, nd
there are very few things to take pre -
dence of it. 1t was better to suppose pro
vlslonally, that they had used all the iu.
formation they could get, and h3d the
depended upon their mechanical imple
ments and skill.
The investigation of the vault occupied
the inspector more than an hour. When
he came out he felt that he knew all thai
there was to be learnt from it. 1t did not
amount to great deal but it was some
thing. The next thing in order was TO
examine witnesses and find out how far
their stories agreed with or contrad.cted
the theories he had formed
By this time, however, the officers of the
bank bad begun to arrive, and it Wa de
sirable to have preliminary interview
with them without delay. They Were as
sembled in the presidents room when the
inspector entered aud exchanged gree
ings with them. He briefly acquain ed
them with the state of affairs, and then
asked whether they had reason to think
that any employe of the bank would BE-
capable of participating in the crime
After Il pause, one of the directors re-
piled that they were unable to fasten sus
piciOn on any one. A their employees lad
been in the service of the bank number
of years and had never been found I'M
trustworthy.
To this, the inspector answered. that
the worst way to treat trustworthy man
was to trust him too much. There was a
double risk first that he himself might
abuse their confidence, and secondly, that
evilly disposed persons, finding him to be
possessed of certain secrets or other valu-
ables, might be tempted to abstract them
from him, either by guile or by violence
the consequence to the bank being the
same in both cases.
$50 far as You may refer to Louis Wer-
kle," returned the director, 1--WE can only
say that we are convinced of the mans
personal integrity. 1t is true that an im-
portant trust was contided to him but
though he had the vault combination. in
order that he might get at the books
which were kept in it, and place them on
the clerks desks in the morning, this did
not give him access to the interior safes in
which the money Is kept. Where money
is concerned, it must always be necessary
TO trust somebody. There is not bank
in this country that could not be wrecked
if the tellerS, or other of the officials, We're
to combine in a dishonest act Our bank
has been carefully conducted, and the
funds invested in registered securities.
But there is no forecasting misfortuueS of
this kind. What one holds To he Il chief
element of strength may develop into a
special danger. it cannot be prevented. ~
"lhis NAV all be, gentlemen - the de